Industry Urges European Parliament to Support TRAN Mandate on the Mobility Package

The under-signed represent the shippers, freight forwarders and express carriers whose customers strongly depend on an effective, seamless and reliable road transport sector in Europe. New rules on road freight transport now under review in Council and Parliament need to be simple, uniform, clear and easily enforceable, so that they facilitate transport operations, protect the workers employed in this industry and ensure a fair competitive environment.

Therefore, signatories urge the Members of the European Parliament to support the mandate which was given to the Transport & Tourism Committee (TRAN) Committee on the 4th June on the various market and social related proposals which are part of the first Mobility Package of the European Commission.

Following an intensive period of debate and consultation, the TRAN Committee adopted the only sensible approach for dealing with international road transport operations, which is to exempt drivers engaging in these operations from any posting regime. However, drivers who perform cabotage operations in another Member State, and therefore in direct competition with drivers in the country in which they operate, will benefit from the minimum wages applied in the Member State in which they operate as of day 1.

The issue of nomadic driving has been addressed in the Report from MEP van de Camp regarding the requirement for the driver and the vehicle to return to their place of employment within a certain number of weeks (proposal COM(2017)277 on maximum daily and weekly driving times).

Now there is no time to waste, it is crucial that an agreement is struck before the European elections in 2019, to prevent the continued imposition of national posting regimes. Members of the TRAN Committee have seriously considered the proposals and have reached some fair compromises.

We therefore call on you to trust and endorse the expert reports of the Transport Committee, which would allow them to start negotiations with the Council and the Commission as soon as possible, so that legislation brings the necessary certainty to workers and industry across the whole EU.